Tried to help Hubby but screwed up Royally--Please Help

10 posts in this topic

I decided to help the hubby out putting gas in the boat so my 3 yr old and I went down to the dock and did just that. However I left the gas cap off. Yesterday we had a storm that knocked the power out and horizontal winds on Lake Norman. The boat was on a lift. It is a Chap. Sunesta 254 year 2004/2005.

We have not started the boat we just put the cap back on. Is there anyway to tell if rain got in the gas tank? What do I need to do the fix the situation?

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Don't try to start it. Right now, you engine is fine, just need to get the water (if any) out of the gas tank.

How much gas is in there?

I would pull the fuel line coming out of the fuel pump (you may have two, a low side and a high pressure pump) and run a hose into a 5 gallon gas can. I would turn the key to on (not crank/start) and check the stream of liquid going into the gas can. Water is heavier than fuel, and it "should" sink to the bottom of the tank and be the first thing sucked out, so if there is water in the tank, I would expect there to be a stream of water and then fuel as the water gets sucked out of the bottom of the tank first. I would even shake up the gas can, and pour some in a clear/glass pitcher and see if it looked like it had any water in there. You'll see the water droplets in the mix, and water settling to the bottom of the pitcher.

If it looks like I'm getting a solid stream of fuel, I would change out the fuel filter/water separator and start the engine. If it runs fine, I would still swap out the fuel filter again, and cut the old one open to see how much/if any water was in there.

If it looks like I've got water in the stream, oh well, I'd get all the gas out and fill it up with fresh, and still change the fuel filter/water sep.

That's what I would do. I'm sure some will say to get ALL the gas out no matter what, but not sure what I would do with 80 gallons of gas that "may" have water in it.

But if your husband is not mechanically inclined, might want to take it to a mechanic.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Water will not damage the engine. Worse that will happen is it will not fire. If it does fire it may run ruff but it is not hurting anything, it is just misfiring due to a bad fuel mixture. Minor amounts of water actually will clean the engine up a bit. If it runs but just ruff. I would throw some Heat fuel additive in it and fill it up with fresh gas and run it lightly until the misfire goes away.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

My opinion, but it f the fuel is supplemented with water, the best thing to do is to get the mixture burnable and get it out. Even with 10% ethanol heat is still effective, you just get much less energy out of the fuel, but at this point it is not about the energy in the fuel. You can run probably up to 40% ethanol before you start seeing combustion anomalies.

If they are lucky this thing will run decent and it will be like putting a nice big can of sea foam through the motor (its a fuel system cleaner). The next tank of gas it will run like a brand new boat.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Well if your going to crack the system open you may as well pump out a sample and see were you stand. All my suggestions were geared at a pragmatic less technical approach, as water is not harmful to a running engine unless it is enough to cause hydro lock or it is exposed to the water over a long length of time to cause corrosion.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

How many inches of rain fell on the boat opening ? Best guess is close enough.

Size of a gas filler opening compared to the surface area of the gas tank bottom is very small. Should not be a serious amount of water in the tank.

I would simply go out & buy enough " Seafoam engine treatment " for the amount of gasoline a full tank holds. It will make a mixture of gasoline & water to run thru the engine.

Do the " Seafoam engine treatment " for 2 tank fulls.

If you start the engine up. You will need to run it for 10 to 15 minutes at idle speed to see if water is a real concern. If he engine will get rougher & stop ? Call a mechanic to do the the fuel pump out . Have him check every few gallons for no more water.

IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO HAVE A SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLAR PUMP OUT DONE.............ABSOLUTLY NOT........USE A DIFFERENT COMPANY IF THE MECHANIC says that type of pump out is needed.